Sex sells, but not for Shane

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SHANE Warne’s period in the doghouse did his public reputation the world of good - until another pesky sex scandal hit this week.
The cricketer, as infamous for his off-field antics as he is famous for spin bowling, did a stellar job last year of changing public perceptions of his suitability to flog products.

According to market research company Sweeney Sports’s annual survey, released yesterday, Warne’s “sponsor appropriateness” rating jumped 16 points in the year to March - second only to tennis player Alicia Molik, whose strong form on the court last year saw her rating leap 28 points.

The survey is based on phone interviews with 1000 people, taken between October and March, in which they were asked to rate 72 athletes on their sponsorship worth.

Warne’s rating took a battering in 2000-01 following text messaging sex scandals, and fell further in 2003-04 after he was suspended from cricket for 12 months for taking a banned substance. From 11th on the suitability scale in 2000, he fell to 50th last year.

But the spinner’s period out of the limelight, his spectacular form on returning to cricket last year and his aid work in post-tsunami Sri Lanka paid off, with Warne jumping from 50th to 27th in this year’s survey.
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“Media coverage is so omnipresent for athletes these days, their lives on and off the field are very intertwined, so negative publicity does weigh heavily and can affect their long-term commercial value,” said Martin Hirons, director of Sweeney Sports.

On that logic, can we expect Warne’s reputation to take another battering following this week’s reports he had a one-night stand with an English student? Yes, according to Paul Gardner, chairman of Grey Advertising.

“I wouldn’t want Shane Warne to sponsor anything I was associated with,” Mr Gardner said.

“He’s not as bad as Mike Tyson, but he has a long way to go to come back.”

Tennis player Mark Philippoussis was the biggest loser in the survey, with his sponsor rating plummeting 26 points.

Poor performance on court or the Delta factor?

“It’s to do with performance - I don’t think Delta was an issue at all,” Mr Gardner said.

The athlete rated as the most suitable for sponsors was Ian Thorpe, followed by fellow swimmer Grant Hackett and tennis world No 2 Lleyton Hewitt.